Saturday, November 03, 2007

"Yule" Love This!

There is a treat coming up for anyone in the Seattle area who is interested in Scandinavian culture. The Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard is hosting its annual Yulefest on November 17 & 18.

I would love to show you the very colorful poster for the event right here, but you'll need to go to the following site: http://www.nordicmuseum.org/index.php and click on the Yulefest link in order to see it.

The Yulefest features live entertainment, Scandinavian arts and crafts, and best of all, those wonderful pastries, lefse, and other cultural reminders of your childhood and Grandma's way of doing things. Come and see the wonderful costumes, and maybe buy yourself a Norwegian sweater.

I never miss this event.

Var so god!(loosely translates to "there you go!" from Norwegian; the phrase is commonly used as an invitation to partake.)

From My Family Collections

Johnson/Larson Cabinet Card Photo Album A, 1880s-1890s

Click on the album cover to look inside.

This Victorian-era cabinet card photograph album had a lovely crimson velvet cover under the brass trim and clasp before it faded due to exposure and time. The album was owned by my great grandparents, Ole Martin and Malla Johnson, of Leonard Minnesota, both of whom died in 1948. Like many folks who knew their family and friends well, they did not take the time to mark who was in the images. As a result, there are many faces among the following family names to be indentifed: Basgaard, Johnson, Larson, Pederson/Peterson (Stallen, or Stalin), Strand, and more.

Johnson/Larson Cabinet Card Photo Album B, 1880s-1890s

Click on the album cover to look inside.

This is the second Victorian cabinet card photograph album owned by my great grandparents, Ole M. and Malla (Larson) Johnson of Leonard, Minnesota. The album side and back is covered in moss green velvet.

Pederson/Larson Photograph Album, 1880s-1900s

Click on the lead photo to look inside.

Included in this second family album are Victorian cabinet card photographs belonging to Karin (Larson) and her husband, Erik Stallen Pederson. Karin Pederson was an older sister of Malla (Larson) Johnson, owner of the first and second albums depicted. There are a few photographs present in both albums. Digitized photographs of the Pederson/Larson Album are courtesy of Nancy Larson of Warren, Minnesota.